TRUST – n. confident reliance on or belief in the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship, power, protection etc., of a person or thing.

There is a commonly held assumption in research circles that consumers won’t tell the truth, or can’t, even when they genuinely want to.  Researchers are told to believe that consumers are somehow incapable of expressing what is important to them unless they are provided with a barrage of tasks, exercises or stimuli designed to catch their subconscious off-guard.  Researchers are also told that true consumer needs can only be uncovered via standardised (and often copywritten) tools.

Imagine if this were true in other professions.  Doctors would have to start asking patients things like “Now, Mr Jones, if your health was another planet, what would it be like to live there?”, instead of asking them to describe their history and symptoms.  Real estate agents would have to ask potential house buyers what house someone like them would want to buy, rather than what they themselves want. 

In research situations, there is not always the need to provide a person with a ‘mask’ in the form of complicated (or in some cases contrived) psychological projective techniques.  It is true that in the right setting such techniques can enable a consumer to express things they normally would not say, or encourage them to think about things from another point of view, but many qualitative research professionals would not think to acknowledge that one of the greatest tools they have at their disposal is TRUST. 

To get a person to communicate what is important to them, the researcher needs to get their TRUST.  If a person trusts them, they will be more relaxed and more open to telling them what they need, want or desire.

How does a qualitative researcher get trust? They start by applying these two skills:

• They develop a RAPPORT before digging for information.  They take time to find some common ground, interests, hobbies or attitudes.  They actively listen and tell people what they are doing and what the foreseeable outcomes will be.  They are a good host – they do not turn up late with armfuls of gear and then launch into a series of exercises.  The art of rapport building is complex, and often not something that can be achieved with a hasty round of introductions.
  
• EMPATHY - treating people with respect.  They do not judge them or their situation before, during or after the research session.  They are privileged to be allowed into their world, they deserve respect.  The catch with empathy is that it cannot be faked!  They actually have to be an empathic person to carry this off!

These concepts are not scientific, yet rapport and empathy are two of the most powerful skills in a qualitative researcher’s repertoire.  With these, they are able to generate TRUST.  And with TRUST, they are better placed to get anyone to tell them about their world, their lives, their hopes and dreams. 

As an observer one should be aware of just how present these qualities are in a qualitative researcher.  How do participants respond to them?  Is the researcher guiding the session or controlling it?  Consumers should come away from research sessions happy - feeling that they have taken part in a worthwhile exercise.  They should feel consulted, valued and invigorated, rather than interrogated, used and exhausted.  They should be sorry for it to end rather than eager to collect the cash and get home to the telly. 

With regards to those projective techniques.  For researchers they are still the bread and butter in terms of enabling people to think outside the box or to express themselves differently.  They can be especially useful in cases where creativity is required.  They can lift a session out of the everyday and mundane, injecting energy and life into potentially mundane topics, but when used in isolation, with no trust developed, they are doomed to yield substandard results.

Grant Storry was formerly National Director of Qualitative Research at TNS New Zealand. 

He is now a Senior Researcher at Synovate and is committed to developing and honing the qualitative skills of his fellow researchers.